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Sacrifice hit

(Redirected from Sacrifice hits)

In baseball, a sacrifice hit is the act of deliberately striking the ball in a manner that allows a runner on base to advance to another base, while the batter is himself put out. The batter usually accomplishes it with a bunt.

The most common situation in which this is a desirable goal for the batting team is when there is one out, and runners are on first and second base. The manager will usually signal the runners to advance as soon as the pitcher winds up. A properly executed sacrifice hit in this scenario puts the ball into fair play a few feet in front of home plate, so the fielding team's only chance for an out is to put out the batter at first base. This avoids an inning-ending double play and results in the runners advancing to second and third base. A sacrifice hit may also be executed when there are no outs, or when there is a single runner on first or second base.

A sacrifice hit is not the same as a sacrifice fly.

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